Criminal record certificate from Brazil for a Spanish nationality file: who issues it and how long it stays valid
What the official pages of Brazil and of Spain say about the criminal record certificate: who issues it, how to ask for it from Spain, cost and time where they are stated, and how long it counts for your file, with a source under every line. Reading this page is free.
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In short
- Criminal record: The Federal Police says its Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais is free, online and valid for 90 days, though some people cannot get it online; we found no page saying from which date the 90 days run or whether it is the single national certificate Spain asks for.
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Last checked: 19 October 2026. Check the official page: sede.mjusticia.gob.es.
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1. Criminal record certificate
The Federal Police (Polícia Federal) page says the Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais reports whether criminal records exist in a person's name in the Federal Police's computer systems.[1] The page says the certificate is issued free of charge, over the internet, and is valid for 90 days.[2]
The gov.br service page for the certificate adds that, when it is supplied for civil purposes, it can be printed and is valid for 90 days.[3] It says this service does not issue a "consta" (record found) certificate, because that information depends on confirmation in person at the Federal Police, owing to the number of people with the same name.[4]
The same page says that in person the certificate can be asked for at the Federal Police's decentralised units throughout the country and abroad.[5] It says some people cannot issue it online because other people have the same name.[6] In that case the system gives a protocol number, which the person (or an attorney) must take to a Federal Police unit.[7] After that, the page says, the certificate takes up to 15 days to be ready.[8] We found no official page listing a Federal Police unit in Spain, or explaining how to give a power of attorney for this from abroad: ask the consulate.
Spain's order lists Brazil among the federal states for which the certificate must cover the whole country, not only one federated state.[9] It adds that if no single certificate is issued for the whole federal state, certificates for the federated states where you lived in the five years before the application must be attached.[10][11]
Federal or state records. The Federal Police page says its system does not hold 100 % of the information of the other criminal-justice bodies, and that certificates currently have to be extracted from each body and each federative entity.[12] We found no official page saying whether the Federal Police certificate is the single national certificate Spain asks for: ask the Spanish Ministry of Justice or the registry.
The Brazilian Consulate-General in Barcelona says it can confirm the authenticity of a certificate issued online on the Federal Police site, but cannot apostille it.[13] It recommends checking beforehand with the institution that asks for the certificate whether the version legalised by the consulate will be accepted, or whether the apostilled document must be requested from the Federal Police in Brazil.[14]
Validity. Two Brazilian pages print a validity of 90 days for the Federal Police certificate.[15][16] We found no Brazilian page saying from which date the 90 days run. Spain's order says that all documents must be in force when you apply, and that a certificate's validity is judged by the period stated on the document itself.[17][18] The order's six-month rule applies only to criminal record certificates with no stated validity.[19]
Spain asks for the criminal record certificate of the country of origin, legalised and translated.[20] Its order says this document may be replaced by the Certificado Consular de Conducta, duly translated and legalised.[21] We found no official page saying whether what the Brazilian consulates issue is that certificate: ask the Spanish Ministry of Justice or the registry.
Sources (21)
Next steps
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- A document is refused and you do not know why.
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